Naked man impaled on pole, claims robberyNaked man impaled on pole, claims robbery
By Chris Wattie, National Post
Parents dropping off their children at an east-end school today found a naked man who had somehow impaled himself on a metal pole on school grounds.
Rescue workers had to cut the two-metre long stake, which was being used as a support for a small tree, and rush the man to hospital with part of the metal pole still protruding from his lower body.
Sergeant Roger Marchack, of Toronto police, said the man went into surgery to remove the remaining piece of metal. His injuries were serious but not life-threatening, he said.
Sgt. Marchack would not give the man's name, but said he was in his 40s and had been impaled through his buttocks. "It was in the rectal area," he said.
While he was being cut free, the man told officers at the scene that he had been chased by three thieves into the playground behind Roywood Public School, near York Mills and Victoria Park, and climbed up the tree to escape.
He then fell and landed on a steel support pole, impaling himself.
Sgt. Marchack said officers combed the school grounds and spoke to homeowners in the area, but found no evidence of the robbers. "We're waiting to interview him further," he said. "There are some points from his first interview we want to clarify."
The tree the man was climbing at the time he was impaled is little more than a sapling and there are a number of much larger trees just a few metres away.
The small tree is however located near the window into the daycare centre which is attached to the school.
There were no students on the grounds this morning as the school was closed for a PA day, but the daycare was briefly placed under lockdown as a precaution while police searched the neighbourhood for possible suspects.
Photo by Tyler Anderson, National Post